Two Braves win National League Gold Glove awards

Atlanta, Georgia. Two players from the Atlanta Braves received Gold Glove Awards on Sunday night. Matt Olson, the team's first baseman, and Mauricio Dubón, a utility player, won the National League honors for the 2026 season. The awards recognize the league's best defenders at their respective positions.

Olson is 32 years old and this is his fourth Gold Glove. He joins Christian Walker and Paul Goldschmidt as the only active first basemen with that many awards. He beat out Ty France from San Diego and T.J. Rumfield from Colorado for the prize. During the 2026 season, Olson played in all 162 games. He led all major league first basemen in innings played.

Defensive statistics show Olson's value on the field. He led all first basemen with 12 Outs Above Average. He also led the position with a fielding run value of 12. His Defensive Runs Saved count stood at 11, which ranked second in the league behind only France.

Dubón is also 32 years old and this is his third Gold Glove. He won the utility player award, a category Rawlings introduced in 2022. He is the first Atlanta player to win this specific honor. In the five years since the category began, Dubón has won it three times. He is the only player with multiple utility Gold Gloves in major league history. Two of his previous wins came while he played for the Houston Astros in the American League.

This season demonstrated Dubón's range across the diamond. He started 75 games in left field. He started 51 games at shortstop. He also started 14 games in center field, five at third base, and four at second base. His versatility allowed the Braves to use him in multiple defensive roles throughout the year.

Olson and Dubón are the first pair of Braves to win Gold Gloves in the same year since 2022. In that previous season, pitcher Max Fried and shortstop Dansby Swanson received the awards. The franchise has claimed 12 Gold Gloves across the last nine seasons. This streak includes seven of those nine years since 2018.

Other Braves players were finalists for the awards but did not win. Left-hander Chris Sale and center fielder Michael Harris II were both in the running. Nolan McLean of the New York Mets beat Sale for the pitcher's award. Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs won the center field award over Harris. The voting for the awards splits between field personnel and advanced analytics. Managers and coaches provide 75% of the vote, while a data-driven index accounts for the remaining 25%.